Strawberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

One cannot always find great looking strawberries at this time of the year in my neck of the woods. So when I found strawberries that were not dried up and yucky looking I absolutely had to buy some. When I got them home I knew that I would like to bake something with them, but what?

Muffins sounded wonderful for breakfast, plus I have never made strawberry muffins before and it’s always a good thing to try something new.  I found a recipe that called for cream cheese, which was perfect because I had some in my refrigerator that need to be used. Also cream cheese and strawberries sounded like they would make a yummy combination.

The family thought that the muffins turned out amazing and they did make for a nice breakfast. And the cream cheese and the strawberries were a great combination for these muffins. The cream cheese made for a nice moist muffin.

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Muffins (Source: Adapted from oneperfectbite.blogspot.com)
Ingredients:
Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped into very small pieces
Cream Cheese Mixture
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease regular-sized muffin tins or line with cupcake liners
2. To make the cream cheese mixture. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and mix until ingredients are combined and smooth.
3. Combine both flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Combine milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg in another bowl and whisk until smooth.
5. Mix milk mixture into flour mixture, folding together until just combined. Do not over mix.
6. Spoon 2 scant tablespoons of batter into the prepared tins. Scatter a few pieces of strawberry on top of each one. Top with a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture, then cover with 1 to 2 tablespoons of muffin batter and a few more pieces of strawberry. Do not over fill. Muffin cups should be no more than 2/3 full.
7. Bake muffins for about 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Yield: 12 to 15 muffins.